Voters Retain Supreme Court Justices

Joe Denoyer - November 9, 2016 4:17 pm

Voters are retaining four Kansas Supreme Court justices targeted for removal by abortion opponents and conservative Republicans.
The results from Tuesday’s election mean that Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and Justices Carol Beier, Dan Biles and Marla Luckert will remain on the seven-member court for another six years.
Voters also retained Justice Caleb Stegall. He was GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s only appointee and was not targeted.
The ouster campaign started with critics of rulings that overturned death sentences in capital punishment cases. Abortion opponents also joined the effort, as did a gun-rights group. Conservative Republicans were critical of previous court rulings in education funding cases.
Nuss and Luckert were appointed to the court by moderate GOP Gov. Bill Graves. Beier and Biles were appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.